Oscar-winning filmmaker backs out of Clinton doc

Updated 5:35 pm, Monday, September 30, 2013

FILE - In this Sept. 9, 2013, file photo, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks about Syria in the South Court Auditorium on the White House Complex in Washington. The filmmaker who was making a documentary about Hillary Clinton for CNN says he is backing out of the project because few people would cooperate with him. Charles Ferguson wrote in a column posted on Huffington Post Monday that he concluded he couldn't make much of a film. He said that of more than 100 people he approached, only two who had dealt with the former of secretary of state agreed to speak on camera. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) ORG XMIT: NYET112

FILE - In this Sept. 9, 2013, file photo, former Secretary of State...

A filmmaker who was making a documentary about Hillary Clinton for CNN said Monday that he is backing out of the project because few people would cooperate with him and the network said the film will not be produced.

Charles Ferguson wrote in a column posted on The Huffington Post on Monday that he concluded he couldn't make much of a film. He wrote that Clinton would not agree to be interviewed and of the more than 100 people he approached, only two who had dealt with the former of secretary of state agreed to speak on camera.

CNN confirmed the account of Ferguson, who won a 2011 Academy Award for "Inside Job," his documentary on the 2008 economic meltdown. "We understand and respect his decision," spokeswoman Barbara Levin said. The network said it won't seek other partners and is not proceeding with the film.

The Republican National Committee had voted to block CNN from hosting GOP presidential primary debates in 2016 because of the project. Ferguson said that Democrats also didn't want him to make the film.

Ferguson wrote that Clinton media representatives "interrogated" him and people at CNN about it. He said one Clinton representative refused to speak to him but publicly questioned whether Ferguson would have a conflict of interest because it was a for-profit venture.

He said that "nobody, and I mean nobody, was interested in helping me make this film. Not Republicans, not Democrats — and certainly nobody who works with the Clintons, wants access to the Clintons, or dreams of a position in a Hillary Clinton administration."